Cameron inspiring hometown students

Students of Mornington State School don Adelaide's 2015 Indigenous guernsey

Mornington Island is located in the Gulf of Carpentaria, approximately 2,048 kilometres from Adelaide.

The largest of 22 islands in the Wellesley Islands group, Mornington Island residents are primarily of Aboriginal descent from the Lardil language group.

This is the place Charlie Cameron likes to call home, a haven where he returns in his downtime to spend time with family and friends, and to reconnect with his culture.

Charlie spent most of his younger years on Mornington Island, attending the State School until Grade Six. So, it was a no-brainer when I received a phone call from local teacher Ben Welsh, asking if we would be willing to help out with rewards for a school attendance program they were running.

Mornington Island lies in the heart of Rugby League country and Ben being an avid AFL fan thought he could mix his two great loves, teaching and footy with a little help from Charlie’s personal story.

Like most remote communities, attendances can be a little inconsistent, and most teachers are looking for an incentive to engage and encourage students to attend consistently.

Ben and his cohort of teachers thought it would be a great idea to offer the Crows Indigenous guernsey with Charlie’s number on the back to students achieving the 90 per cent attendance criteria.

Ben believes that great learning begins with great attendance; something that we advocate through our AFC Indigenous programs, so we were more than happy to throw our support behind his initiative.

Charlie already had a bit of a cult following amongst the students, who have now become AFL fans, so their Crows guernsey with their new heroes number on the back, have become the perfect addition to the school community.

Charlie is planning a trip back home at Christmas time. I’m sure the students of Mornington State School will have their textas and guernseys ready to be signed by their hero.

These Mornington Island students could be Charlie Cameron's biggest fans

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs